It's been busy lately, with more to come it seems. We expect Steve Ames, of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. "Environmental Mafia," here Jan. 25th and he, Joan and Linda will increasingly take over RAIN's inner workings. A technically-inclined person, or "technotwit" as Amory i;.,ovins prefers, is still needed to replace me, and maybe another person in some other area to bring. us back up to what feels like full strength ... about five people. Thanks to Joan and Linda, it's not inhumanly hectic thesf days. Here's some of the "in-house" stuff that's been happening to me: John Berger (Nuclear Power: The Unviable Option author) came by to brainstorm how to design and run an information network to support antinuclear intervenors anp organizations. It felt like he understood what we meant about why it's more efficient and fun using people (human biocomputers?) rather than IBMs to answer questions. My brother Mark gave me'Mother Earth News' Handb,ook ofHomemade Power for Christmas. Frankly, I was flabberghasted since I thought he knew I'd moved far bey,ond that! Especially since it's full of dangerous shuck 'n aw pshaw, unsubstantiated jive like the suggestion on p. 351 that Ken Smith and I always rib each other about .... "Hey, Ken, have you put a leaky methane digester inside a greenhouse and blown yourself up yet?" The joke is based on .the fact that most digesters leak gas and should never be e,nclosed. Hey, maybe he gave it to me as a joke! We had a good meeting of the PNW Solar Energy Association steering committee at Rainhouse on Jan. 3, and that feels right on schedule for this year's "Solar '78 Northwest" conference (see "Solar" in this issue) for which about $10,000 in funding is already lined up. Nevertheless, be forewarned that the three-day conference will cost you what it's·really worth this y'ear .. •. probably about $30/person ... partly because we've been given the word by DOE not to expect any financial support for '79. It's time we did this on a self-sufficient basis anyway, and I'm confident we can do so. The conference steering committee meets Jan·. 30 in Salem, so I may have an update next time. We'll continue to use RAIN for regional solar association communications until we can afford an independent newsletter. ~~~- .• ~<-,I :~~' ..All-. ~~.-- -.All~ - ~ · ~~ Tom, Lane, Linda and I variously spoke at and attended the Oregon State University a.t. conference Jan. 16-18 in the heart of the dinosaur, a nuclear engineering school. It was a g?od gathering, what with Wilson Clark, Sim Van der Ryn\ Roger.Blobaum and Eliot Coleman also present and mouthing• off. Bill McGowan, a student intern at Ecot9pe in Seattle, may have a more detailed report on it in the near future. Along with other peer review panel • members evaluating the California AET grant proposals (see story in this issue), I'll be in Sacramento Feb. 14 and 15 for a joint work session. Maybe I'll luck out and it'll be warm enough down there to go swimming! • ·Then it's off to a "Wind Energy Systems Workshop," Feb. 20-21 in Lincoln, Nebraska, sponsored by the Association of Nebraska Community Action Agen- - cies. There I'11 be,speaking'on the potential for local small business and local jobs that you've already read about in "Wise Wind, Designing for Jobs" (April '77 Rain) a~d "Small Groups, Big Windmills" (Jan. '78 RAIN). Steve Blake of Sunflower Power Co. (Rt. 1, Box 93-A, Oskaloosa; KS) will be there too, and since we usually have a good time talking wind, I'm psyching up for a mellow meeting.. • • Haven't seen my grandmother, aunt, uncle and I6wa cousins in a while, so I thought after·Nebraska I'd pester them for a day or two in Davenport, Iowa, then go sneak up on Kye Cochran and the ~ther good folks at AERO in Billings and Helena,·Montana, on the way home to Portland town. Tpe best bit of luck would be to do all this ti;-aveling by energy-efficient train, sit-" ting in the Vistadome gazing out over the amber waves of gr;i,in, or whatever. One time I watched the full moon rise in the wide glowing openness between North Dakota and Montana ... one doesn't often feel such peace. Finally, Ken Bossong (Citizens Energy Project, People arid Energy, 1413 'K' St., N.W., Washington, DC 2000,5) and I have a belated Christmas present for those individuals who can prove they are.indigent anti-nuclear intervenors ... complimentary subscriptions to RAIN and People and Energy. If you're not an intervenor yourself, feel free to suggest the name and address of .someone in your town who is. That's about it. - LJ . . You may have been confused because· in the last Raindrops we talked about Steve Ames but didn't p,ut him in the staff box and then there _was this person you.had never heard of named Linda Sawaya. Steve wasn't in the box last time (or this time either) because he isn't here yet. Linda is our new layout person. Last time we weren't sure if she was going to become an official Rainmaker or not-we were ·trying each other out. But now I'm sure you'll agree t_hat she's continuing the fine tradition that Mary Wells started and Marcia Johnson and Tom Bender carried on of bringing you a crisp and beautiful magazine each month. -LdeM • A note to our foreign readers, new and old alike: If possible, could renewal~ and new subscriptions be paid for with money orders.or checks made out for U.S. dollars? Our bank is unable to process some foreign checks and must ·exchange others. Thanks! -JM We listed chimney brushes in the January issue as being available from S/ A Imports Division, 700 East Water St., Suite 730, Syracuse, NY 13210. They only sell wholesale, so if your local woodstove dealer doesn't stock them, SI A is one of the sources they can get them from. Brian Crutchfield, listed in January as the NCAT extension worker in the Southeast U.S., is no longer in North Carolina. His address is now P.O. Box •702, Radford, VA 24141. We also incorrectly listed the Institute for Ecological Policies as the Institute . for Ecological Studies in Jim Benson's article. Whoops! • -
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